I was wondering if I could still have raw acv or dandelion tea before my meals too...I have low stomach acid and need something to help my gallbladder out when I eat to avoid pain.

ACV is fine for salad dressings etc., but if you're taking a substantial amount of it straight -- more than 1 tsp. or so -- it would need to be introduced slowly, diluted at first, in case it causes irritation (which shouldn't be a problem if you're already used to it). Dandelion leaf tea would be okay, as it's non-starchy, and the leaves are fine to eat as a food -- but dandelion root is out, as it has polysaccharides. Same goes for many root, bark, and twig teas, including licorice.

Of course, for the first two days, you're not supposed to use anything that's not listed on the intro diet, but you'd have to decide if these supplements are essential or not.

The SCD doesn't have guidelines about food intolerances, so you could try following the GAPS advice, or just try introducing a previous problem food whenever you're comfortable doing so. If there are problems, you can always drop it and try again later.

If you have other specific questions about doing the intro & early stages, it might be easier if you post them in the "SCD slow & steady thread." I'd be happy to go into the details, look stuff up, etc. (The reason I started that thread was that these combined GAPS/SCD discussions can get kind of confusing, for those of us who are just starting out and trying to figure out what we're supposed to be eating. )

LTB, you only put the yolks in? Yeah, I totally stole the banana pudding recipe from you, that's what got my 4 yr old through those early weeks on SCD, but I've been doing the whole egg raw.

I read about this some, and there seemed to be a lot of opinions but no definite answers. Some said that the raw egg white blocks the absorption of biotin and we need biotin to digest carbs and deal with candida. (I *think* this is correct.) Others said, it's packaged as a whole food, so there must be something about it that's okay like that. So, I was going in that camp and eating the whole egg raw in smoothies and the banana pudding.

I think I have finally convinced myself to do GAPS with DD. It came in the form of Dr. Mercola's newsletter. According to him, sugar and starchy foods cause acne. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...Naturally.aspx And I am sooo sick of having acne! Yes, it's a vain reason to heal my gut, but one I can use to my advantage. So yesterday afternoon when I was feeling particularly sluggish (turns out I have a cold coming on), and I was yearning for a sugar rush (chocolate milkshake or choc chip cookies w/milk), I repeated to myself - "Do I want clear skin, or a quick fix?"

And I find thinking of it in terms of an addiction helps me step back. A lot of the moms in my circle joke around on FB about what bad foods they are craving and/or indulging in, so it seems "normal". But if I can make myself look at it as if I were addicted to something else that was harmful, would I have the willpower to face it down and conquer it for my DD? So, we'll see how long that lasts...

Leila, the book The Mood Cure by Julia Ross really helped me find ways to combat my cravings for sugars and starches!!!

Yes! That really works.

Okay, well I did start the GAPS intro yesterday and things have been going right tummy/bowel wise but I have been really irritable and sad. My 4 yo even commented on it. He asked me why my body was making my mind sad because that is how I explained depression to him. I just found out that some people are coming over for dinner so I just feel really upset about having to have peolple over today...I am going to tell dh no invites for like 2 weeks.

I was able to really streamline the diet making it less overwhelming. I am doing the meat, veg, broth, co oil, garlic, and kraut juice...I will start fermenting fish and all that later.

Anyway at least it looks like I can move through the stages fast. I am holding off on avocado, eggs and ghee since those are my intolerances. I will probably start up ghee soon though. I am kind of afraid to try eggs but I may just try a yolk soon. It would be great to have those back for the nut flour baking, nutrients, and something easy for breakfast. Also can you make mayo with just egg yolks? Then I would only be eating a little everyday until I know I am okay with them.

Can you keep taking some serotonin-boosting supplements during the intro or is that not allowed? I think the intro would probably send my mental (including emotional) faculties crashing as well. On top of the chemical aspect, there's the psychological aspect of feeling that you are depriving yourself of an act of love (indulging in familiar comfort foods). It's hard! Be gentle with yourself. If you can, try for lots of non-food indulgences like a nice warm herb bath or diffuse some essential oils, or maybe even splurge on a professional massage or something like that if you can afford it.

♥ blogger astrologer mom to three cool kiddos, and trying to figure out this divorce thing-- Blossom and Glow ♥

In our pantry we have cans of veggies, some dried legumes, honey, oils and raisins, and other than that a bunch of stuff that isn't on the diet: canned soups, stews, and chilis that contain grains, dried pasta, dried mashed potatoes, you know, that kind of thing. It's all from before we started this diet this second time.

Can you keep taking some serotonin-boosting supplements during the intro or is that not allowed? I think the intro would probably send my mental (including emotional) faculties crashing as well. On top of the chemical aspect, there's the psychological aspect of feeling that you are depriving yourself of an act of love (indulging in familiar comfort foods). It's hard! Be gentle with yourself. If you can, try for lots of non-food indulgences like a nice warm herb bath or diffuse some essential oils, or maybe even splurge on a professional massage or something like that if you can afford it.

I am keeping on my B-complex, mag, and zinc because they help (I also have pyroluria so I need the B6 and zinc). It is really psychological for me....feeling like everyong else if having fun eating junk food and I spend all this time in the kitchen. I felt like this anyway because of my multiple food allergies, but even more so now...I got off psych meds working with Julia Ross' clinic. Removing my food allergens was part of that and it really helped my anxiety so I know I have a gut issue to heal. I don't want to avoid communion because I am trying to avoid a panic attack the rest of my life...Sometimes I do wish I was on meds eating whatever..but I know that is not the real solution and it was not so great to be on all that stuff anyway...I was still having mental issues on the drugs.

I am going to try and be easy on myself though. I hope this post made sense! I know you all understand. I think I am going to start counting my blessings in my journal...

I just got my lab results back and I have parasites AND candida overgrowth. So I am so overwhelmed right now thinking how whittled down my diet is going to be doing GAPS AND anti-candida. Since I allergic to eggs now, I will subsist on meat, vegetables, olive and coconut oil, salt/herbs/seasonings and some nuts. And I am doing this all while working fulltime still (not to mention social gatherings like I am at my parents house right now and everyone is eating home made lemon meringue pie).

I, too am trying to count my blessings...even after taking out eggs, fruit and honey will make this even harder. Some people subsist on one food, or no food. I also am counting my blessings having access to good food for healing. I treated myself to buying a chest freezer finally so I can stock up on meat, stock and batches of allowed legumes.

I know remaining positive and as stress free as possible will be as crucial to my healing as diet. I told DH today my "dessert"/treats now will have to be things like treating myself to making a nice filet mignon once a week or something haha.

Happily married to DH for 6 years, in process to foster-adopt 3 children DD4, DS3 and DS2. We may be bringing half brother age 9 one day as well! We are not infertile, we just have decided that since there are precious children who need homes there is no need for us to have biological children.

I've always liked to have a few months' worth of food on hand. When we went on the SCD, I figured it would be a good time to rotate our supplies, so I donated a bunch of illegals (the cheaper and/or about to expire stuff) to the food pantry. Here's what's left:

SCD legal: Canned fish & shellfish, dried fruit, nut flours & nut butters, tahini, ghee, oils, honey, salt, mustard, & approved brands of juice. A few home-canned meats and vegetables. Organic Valley powdered milk and UHT half-and-half for making yogurt. Also some lentils, split peas, black beans and coconut products, though we're not eating those yet. And seeds for sprouting, which give us a back-up source of fresh food... though I'm not sure which types of sprouts are legal.

Not officially allowed, but up for grabs in an emergency: Unapproved brands of "unsweetened, not from concentrate" juice; store-bought local organic applesauce; canned pineapple (in juice, but not in "own juice"); all-fruit jam with pectin; additive-free canned meat.

Some items, like the almond flour and powdered milk, are kept in the fridge or freezer to lengthen their shelf life, but they'd be okay even if we lost power.

Here's what I'd like to add to the pantry, both for preparedness and everyday eating: plenty of nuts in the shell; more home-canned meats and vegetables; homemade jerky; home-canned broth; and home-canned applesauce (not much chance of that... we always eat it as fast as I can make it!).

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2. What is your favorite "legal" food craving right now?

Brussels sprouts, at room temperature, with butter spread on them. Somewhat weird, but healthy, I guess.

newcastlemama, I meant to say that I think I have pyroluria, too, but I can't be certain sicne I haven't been diagnosed. However, I read about it after reading Julia Ross' book and it sounded like me so I tried doing large doses of B vitamins and zinc and it has helped. I'm thinking of upping the doses.

So I had some apparently grain-free Chinese food last night, and (I should have known!!!) had the left-overs today, and now I feel LIKE JUNK. Of course, duh. Yucky headache, brain is super foggy, tired and dragging, yuck yuck yuck. I'm sure it had some wheat in it, and or cornstarch. NO MORE take-out Chinese food for me, boy have I ever learned my lesson.

♥ blogger astrologer mom to three cool kiddos, and trying to figure out this divorce thing-- Blossom and Glow ♥

Is anyone else doing an anti-candida form of GAPS/SCD? My naturopath just recommended today to stick with a traditional anti-candida diet (some grain), but I think it will be more powerful to stay on GAPS. She did and some sources say 1 small serving of low glycemic fruit (blueberries, raspberries and green apples mostly) per day is allowed..so that makes me happy.

I felt so hungry today..I dunno if it is die-off? I tracked my calories on fitday.com today and I got over 2,000, and 63% fat.

My legal craving today: stuffed peppers with marinara sauce. I settled for a ground beef patty with zuchinni sauteed in marinara sauce...much less time consuming hehe.

Happily married to DH for 6 years, in process to foster-adopt 3 children DD4, DS3 and DS2. We may be bringing half brother age 9 one day as well! We are not infertile, we just have decided that since there are precious children who need homes there is no need for us to have biological children.

But if I can make myself look at it as if I were addicted to something else that was harmful, would I have the willpower to face it down and conquer it for my DD? So, we'll see how long that lasts...

I am finding that sometimes my thought process is one of subconsciously thinking I will never be able to have that again. When I tell myself intentionally and with reason that I CAN have that chocolate, sometime in the future, it just would be better to not have it today, because I am healing all this stuff now so that I CAN indulge on occasion in the future, well, it works sometimes at least.

I was able to really streamline the diet making it less overwhelming. I am doing the meat, veg, broth, co oil, garlic, and kraut juice...I will start fermenting fish and all that later.

Anyway at least it looks like I can move through the stages fast. I am holding off on avocado, eggs and ghee since those are my intolerances. I will probably start up ghee soon though. I am kind of afraid to try eggs but I may just try a yolk soon. It would be great to have those back for the nut flour baking, nutrients, and something easy for breakfast. Also can you make mayo with just egg yolks? Then I would only be eating a little everyday until I know I am okay with them.

I think that technically the coconut oil is not on the intro. On the GAPS list I was told to intro it after all those stages of the intro. Olive oil even is introduced fairly late in the game.

My problem, I believe, is that I was not getting enough fat on the intro. I was eating all the fat in the broth, etc, but I still needed more fat I think. I was just eating so much protein. But fat seems to be more key, for us at least.

Yes, you can make mayo with just egg yolks. In fact some recipes call for only the yolks. It is the yolk that contains lecithin, which acts as an emulsifier in the process of making mayo. Eggs contain other proteins too that act as emulsifiers, but the lecithin in the yolk is a big one.

I pretty much have no pantry. Coconut oil is about it. My freezer full of meat is my emergency food storage. I have no idea what I'd do if we suddenly couldn't cook meat for a whole day. I guess I'd send DP to the backyard to build a campfire.

Fave legal craving: I'm really craving raw fruit right now, and I caved in a couple of weeks ago and crashed the whole thing, so now I'm back on the wagon, no raw fruit for me right now. Hopefully when summer's blueberries arrive in June, I'll be able to indulge.

I am going to try and be easy on myself though. I hope this post made sense! I know you all understand. I think I am going to start counting my blessings in my journal...

Yes, it makes plenty of sense. DO be gentle on yourself. Can you take a day or an afternoon when a DP or friend is around and just cook a bunch of stuff you can have, like make a lot of soup, peel vegetables so they're ready to go, etc?

So I had some apparently grain-free Chinese food last night, and (I should have known!!!) had the left-overs today, and now I feel LIKE JUNK. Of course, duh. Yucky headache, brain is super foggy, tired and dragging, yuck yuck yuck. I'm sure it had some wheat in it, and or cornstarch. NO MORE take-out Chinese food for me, boy have I ever learned my lesson.

Oh yeah, there was probably some stuff in there for sure. But I hope you are feeling better today!

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Originally Posted by nicolelynn

Is anyone else doing an anti-candida form of GAPS/SCD? My naturopath just recommended today to stick with a traditional anti-candida diet (some grain), but I think it will be more powerful to stay on GAPS. She did and some sources say 1 small serving of low glycemic fruit (blueberries, raspberries and green apples mostly) per day is allowed..so that makes me happy.

I felt so hungry today..I dunno if it is die-off? I tracked my calories on fitday.com today and I got over 2,000, and 63% fat.

My legal craving today: stuffed peppers with marinara sauce. I settled for a ground beef patty with zuchinni sauteed in marinara sauce...much less time consuming hehe.

Oh yeah, I would definitely stay on GAPS. Tons of people do it without honey and fruit. In fact, I do better without any honey and fruit. It increases my cravings instantly, and I'm suddenly starving for more and more food.

Are you going to try some other things to help with the yeast? There are enzymes like Candidase and Candex. S boulardii is supposed to be helpful too. I think the key is to make sure you are getting enough fat, and that you are eating very frequently. But really, those are two different strains of thought. One says that you can't eat the honey and fruit or it feeds the yeast. The other says that as long as you are eating food you can actually digest, you won't be feeding the yeast (as long as you don't go overboard obviously).

LionTigerBear--A pyroluria urine test is $50 and you can do it yourself..Ross' book should have info on where to order it if you want. You can probably request one through their clinic. Though I think supplements are very safe it is good to test before high dosing zinc (I am not sure what high dosing means to you though!)

Nicolelynn-You could do really high fat (80%) Like Bee's candida diet/optimal diet.If my test comes back candida I think I will do that for a while...Yes, I would stay on GAPS because the undigested carbs in an unhealed gut would be bad (like the book talks about why we should avoid all grain/potatoes ect)

Momofmine--Thanks for your replies. I do coconut oil because I cannot afford good meat. So I take all the meat fat off and add lots of coconut oil..I am able to have good BMs/digestion on it so I think it is working for me..If I did not do that I would be starving...adding a lot of fat is really helping me through.

She is taking about adding whey/yogurt right from the start so that it s change fromthe book. She also seems to think eating (IgG)allergens from the beggining is fine as long as the reaction is not severe--

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Unless the reaction is very severe, it should be ignored. Just concentrate on healing the gut lining with the Introduction Diet. Once the gut wall is healed, the foods will be digested properly before being absorbed, which will remove most food intolerances and allergies.

I have to restart intro at this point because when I moved on my BMs stopped. When I tired saurkraut I had D and horrible stomach pain as well. So with this info I am going to add my intolerant foods in the order she presented (avocado, eggs, dairy) I will wait on tomatoes for a little more healing since they have given me full blown panic attacks in the past and are not part of intro really anyway.

My dh is supposed to get paid for some jobs so hopefully I will be able to do the stool panel to see exactly what I am dealing with..I was on TONS of abx in the past (for Lyme and it did not even work, just immune boosting stuff did) but don't have any "yeasty" symptoms. I did take 100,000 count of probiotics a day in between the abx...at least my dr knew about that. I did developed colitis while on them and quit and my dr wanted me to keep going..anyway I wish I never did that but I was desperate nad not thinking clearly with all my anxiety issues.

Does GAPS allow/encourage organ meats on the intro? I'm thinking it must, as NCM mentions using chicken giblets in the broth. For those who aren't eating a lot of raw or lightly cooked fruits and vegetables, the organs can fill in many nutritional gaps (pardon the pun ), which can help a lot with the cravings and general blahs. Something that came to mind recently was that eating muscle meat and fat without the organs is like eating refined grains and bran without the germ. You can survive on them, but you're not going to achieve optimal health or healing.

Hearts can be simmered in the stock along with everything else, but liver will turn bitter if it's overcooked, so it should be cooked gently until it's just done. As for kidney, I don't think it would turn bitter, but a particularly strong variety might make your soup smell like pee.

It would be ideal to get a small serving of organ meats every day -- maybe an ounce or two? -- because some of the B-vitamins aren't stored in the body. For instance, you could grind up some liver together with a little cooked winter squash and onion, make tiny meatballs, and simmer them in the broth. They could then be frozen on a cookie sheet and stored in a freezer bag, and you could have some in broth each day. This is similar to "leberknoedel soup," which is a classic German dish. Traditionally, it also uses bone marrow.

It would also be great to have fish broth occasionally, instead of chicken or red meat. We can only get salmon heads, which I've been told don't make a very tasty broth; I'll have to ask around for other kinds. Our supermarket does sell reasonably priced bags of frozen smelts (small fish, like sardines). The heads are removed, but the bones and innards are all there. I've tried breading and baking them in the past, and they were very tasty. I'm sure they'd make a very nutritious broth, though I'm not sure how appealing it would be.

That's the thing... some of these foods don't sound very appetizing, at least in the beginning... but if we're going to eat so far outside our cultural norms, I think we might have to adjust our palates quite a bit. Traditional societies who ate diets based on animal foods couldn't afford to shy away from the "weird stuff." For instance, imagine a primitive coastal dweller who refused to eat fish.

It does seem like most children adjust to these diets surprisingly quickly. From what I've read in past discussions, it's typically the adults who feel the most miserable, are the most tempted by forbidden foods (even after weeks on the diet), etc. This makes sense, as we're trying to go against a lifetime of eating habits. We have to go easy on ourselves, and treat ourselves to our favorite legal foods, just like we would with our children.

BTW, in my experience, it's absolutely essential to have a few containers of yummy intro soup in the freezer. Even if you're off the intro, you never know when you might get a digestive upset and need to go back on it. Besides, it can be a lifesaver on days when everything goes nuts, and you don't have time to cook. IMO, it would be an excellent idea to make & freeze several quarts of the soup before you even start the diet. (This goes for both SCD and GAPS.)

I would have fallen off the wagon multiple times by now, if not for my "soup stash."

Hummingmom--We all like chicken liver pate here and sometimes I grind beef liver into the ground beef. I would like to get more into organ meats in because I do think they are important.

I am on Day 7 GAPS intro--I can do stews/casseroles at this point (stage 2), kraut juice is okay but the kraut itself caused my major tummy problems (I was suprised because I have eaten it for quite a while)

I am on day 2 of adding egg yolks and I don't think it is affecting me!: I found some awesome local pastured eggs since I am eating them raw. I am going to try and add avocado tomorrow (another one of my intoerances) so I hope it will go well.

I am going to start adding in ghee and 24h yogurt in small increments soon.

I ordered fermented CLO and the Bio-kult today since we have a little money. I feel a little nervous about the probiotic because of die-off so I am going to go slow. I read that it is good to do the theraputic dose for 6 months and then I can maintain on fermented foods. My aunt also gave me her brand new super nice JUICER!!!! They never used it so I get to start that up soon! My ds and dh are really excited to juice too.

I am feeling a lot less stressed out about the diet/protocol now that I have done it for a week. I am also feeling hopeful about the diet since my, um, bowel issue is improving and the egg yolks seem to be going well. I also try and remind myself that it will only get better from here..I will keep going up the stages and getting to add more foods.

I don't think DS was reacting to the glutamine, I think he is having die-off reactions. We haven't been doing the glutamine since that one time and his behavior hasn't changed. And it is NO FUN. Oh well!!! Also, I realized they might possibly be reacting to their Playdoh so that is now out of the picture. We'll see if that helps.

♥ blogger astrologer mom to three cool kiddos, and trying to figure out this divorce thing-- Blossom and Glow ♥

You're headaches probably flame up when you don't feed your addictions. So, you're right, a diet of meat and veggies will probably give you wicked bad headaches at first. But it WILL feed your brain. The sugar is NOT feeding your brain! I would personally ease into the transition by starting to just cut back on sugar and chocolate and starches now, with the help of amino acids and vitamins to help stave off the cravings. Julia Ross has really good recommendations for this in her book The Mood Cure. I suggest activated charcoal as well. Then from there you can ease into the intro, cutting out the remaining grains and starches and so forth.

When I first went on the SCD intro a couple years ago (a la pecanbread.com) I did get very sick-- headaches, extremely weak and dizzy, almost fainted. I was going into the SCD intro from a GFCF diet. In retrospect I WISH I had used supplements and activated charcoal to ease into the diet. To the starch/sugar-addicted body/brain, it is like coming off of drugs. Literally. BTW, my really bad weak/headachey symptoms were gone within just a few days.

P.S. the perpetually hungry feeling will persist for a long time-- maybe weeks but possibly months. The first time I went grain-free, this lasted months, but I wasn't on a probiotic then. It will feel like you aren't eating enough and you just can't feel satisfied. And then, at some point, you realize that those were just cravings, not real hunger-- because they go away. This time doing the GAPS diet, I am also on a probiotic, and that craving/not-satisfied feeling only lasted a couple/few weeks. Now I no longer have cravings for grains, starches, or sugar AT ALL!!! In fact the idea of pizza, chocolate ice cream, a chocolate bar, potato chips or toast just turns my stomach! No appeal whatsoever. Amazing! These are the kinds of things I could not get through the day without just a couple of months ago! I was so addicted to sweets! BTW, the probiotic I am on is Primal Defense by Garden of Life and I don't know if it is technically legal but it is working so well for me and I LOVE it.

♥ blogger astrologer mom to three cool kiddos, and trying to figure out this divorce thing-- Blossom and Glow ♥

I am finding that sometimes my thought process is one of subconsciously thinking I will never be able to have that again. When I tell myself intentionally and with reason that I CAN have that chocolate, sometime in the future, it just would be better to not have it today, because I am healing all this stuff now so that I CAN indulge on occasion in the future, well, it works sometimes at least.

I was thinking about this the other day and came up with an analogy: So, the gut lining is like a cast-iron skillet. It needs to be "seasoned". If it's never been properly seasoned, it is extremely finicky. Everything sticks to it, and it needs to be cleaned and oiled promptly or it will begin to rust immediately. BUT, once it's been seasoned sufficiently, the food stops sticking, and you can let it sit out dirty without a problem. And you don't have to oil it nearly as often. HOWEVER, even the most well-seasoned skillet will start getting rusty if it's left outside in the rain for too long. If that happens, you need to bring it back in, clean it off, oil it up, and begin the seasoning process again. It might be quicker than the first time though, and it will soon be back to frying your eggs like a champ.

Now I'm going to think about "oiling" my gut every time I use my skillet!